Room 21 in the can!

Room 21 was shoot last week! We started around 5pm and finished at 2am. Everything went well and it was a very enjoyable but totally knackering experience. It is now in the process of being edited and it shouldn't be too long before I get the picture locked and off and sent to be graded...and then sound off to be mixed and added to. Normally after a shoot I feel like a rest but not this time. I'm already working on the next one so watch this space...
P.S. It is more than likely that the film will be renamed from 'Room 21' to 'Room 801' - for logistical reasons (we shot in Room 801 and couldn't change the number on the door)

All Cast!

Hi there...I have now cast both the male and female roles for the film and have rehearsed as well. The role of the 'Smart-Man' (Formerley Tall-man) will be played by Laurence Saunders and the Severe Woman (Or Dominatrix) will be played by Zoe Hunter. Both are very talented actors with great experience. I am shooting a week today and cannot wait!

A new start

Im currently on track for a shot date of June 4th after the rather inconveinient debacle involving excessive demands by my lead actress. I made the decision that I was not prepared to meet her demands thus she will not be in the film. This of course meant the shoot had to be pushed back from April. Off the back of this, I did some thinking about the male actor I had cast for the lead and came to the conclusion that despite him being talented and a throughly nice bloke, he just wasn't right for the part. After talking with him he kind of agreed. So, I am casting this week and will have both a new actor and actress by the weekend giving me time for an all important rehearsel. I have also solved the corridor location problem but I cannot tell you how until after the shoot - all will be revealed.

Money, Money, Money!

Its the root of all evil and we are all a slave to it. Yeh, I'm talking about money, wonga, wedge, mullah...bunce.
I'm short of a few hundred pounds of what I need to cover the films budget so have gone to the drawing board and come up with what I think is a good idea. I have set up a group on facebook offering peole the oppurtunity to invest in the film. For £50 you can buy a 'unit' of investment and an Executive producer credit. There is good potential for me to be able to double your investment within a quick timeframe too.
This has had a great response with £200 of investment coming in within just 48 hours!
If you want to view the investors pack, just follow this link:
https://share.acrobat.com/adc/document.do?docid=76daf5b6-dcd2-4a22-a34a-7c9ac00b1c17

Room 21 update

51 days until the shoot and still a few things to sort out. The wonderful Corridor location I mentioned in my last blog has fallen through! It is being totally renovated at the exact time I need it...gutted! I am going to meet someone at Nottingham Trent Uni to have a look around to see if there is anything suitable there (fingers tightly crossed). I did a shot reccie of the hotel room with Owen, my DOP a few days ago which was really useful. We played around with the lighting and think we can achieve the look we want with just the lights in the room so no need for additional lights and additional expense. The room is gonna look great and has made my excitement for the film go up another notch.
Will keep you posted with more news in the forthcoming weeks.

Found Corridor Location!

I have found the perfect location for the corridor scenes. It is an unused Office. I will have total run of the floor which is great when considering set design. The next step is for me to get in contact with some lighting installers and see if I can get the corridor looking right. Whatever I do needs to be easily reversed though and cause no damage.

Other concerns really are still with getting the right performances from the actors. I know that I need to do more thinking into this and take some decisive action. I am speaking to Teresa (lead actress) tonight and have a few things to put to her. I also need to get her to agree to either dyeing her hair black or wear a wig - she is blonde and that won't be as effective in relation to the films colour scheme. Plus, I personally feel that jet black hair looks more severe and will make her look harsher. I also need her to agree to playing a second role in the film - that of the submissive woman. As this character wears a hood, it will be impossible for the viewer to know she is playing both that role and that of the dominatrix. Plus, i won't have the difficult task of having to find another actress to play a role where no one will see her face but she has to expose her body!

more news will follow...

Back on track

Unfortunately, the December shoot date had to be postponed! I have had some budget problems which has called for some rethinking of how the film will be financed. The Good News is that these problems look like they have been sorted out so I have scheduled a new shoot date for 2nd April. I have been able to devise a profit share incentive for some of the cast and crew who will defer their normal payments. I am currently thinking about extras for the DVD and have already started shooting a 'making of' documentary. One of my main concerns is that I may not get to do rehearsals due to the busy schedules of my actors. I want to see how they perfom before we shoot so I can gauge the tone of their performance and I am worried that if we go in 'blind', it may take up to much time to work on if it is not right. Did I mention this is going to be a one day shoot? Now you see why I'm worried about taking too much time on the day to do anything that hasn't been planned and scheduled. Maybe I will be able to squeeze a rehearsel in before the shoot...we shall see. Another concern is that I still need to find a suitable Corridor location which I didn't expect to be difficult. Still it wouldn't be any fun if it was all plain sailing would it.